Man gets 30 years in baby's murder, trying to get girlfriend's relatives killed

Cook County Sheriff's photo /

Jorge Galvez, 24, of Cicero, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering his infant daughter, Lilliana, in March 2010 and trying to have three of his girlfriend's relatives murdered after he was charged with murder.

Jorge Galvez, 24, of Cicero, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering his infant daughter, Lilliana, in March 2010 and trying to have three of his girlfriend's relatives murdered after he was charged with murder. (Cook County Sheriff's photo /)

Liam FordTribune reporter

A Cicero man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering his 3-week-old daughter and trying to have his girlfriend’s family members killed, prosecutors said.

Jorge Galvez, 24, was charged with murder after his daughter, Liliana, was found unresponsive in her crib on March 20, 2010, in the couple’s home in the 1600 block of 50th Court in Cicero.

Galvez pled guilty Wednesday to Liliana’s murder before Cook County Judge Noreen Love in Maywood Branch Court and then pled guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit murder before Criminal Court Judge Domenica Stephenson, prosecutors said in a news release. Love sentenced him to 20 years in prison and Stephenson sentenced him to 10 years, to be served after the other sentence is completed.

Galvez, his girlfriend and their baby were at home late on March 19, 2010, when the baby went to sleep. When Liliana woke up crying early the next morning, the girlfriend left the baby with Galvez as she went to get a bottle, prosecutors said.

Angered by the baby’s continued crying, Galvez dropped her on the floor. The baby kept crying, and Galvez picked her up and threw her into the crib, causing her head to hit the crib, prosecutors said.

The baby became unresponsive, and while the mother told Galvez to call authorities, he refused and the couple went to bed. When they woke up about nine hours later, Galvez called his mother about the baby and she told him to call authorities, prosecutors said.

Paramedics at first thought the baby might have died from sudden infant death syndrome, prosecutors said at the time of Galvez’s arrest. The couple initially told police the baby had been all right when she fell asleep, but that they overslept because she didn’t wake them up and they only realized when they got up that she wasn’t breathing.

But the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Liliana died from blunt head trauma suffered from child abuse in a homicide. Galvez made a videotaped statement to investigators in which he admitted he threw the baby, but said repeatedly in the statement that he did not mean to kill her, prosecutors said.

Galvez was arrested and charged with murder. While he was awaiting trial, Galvez started asking fellow inmates about finding someone to kill three three of his girlfriend’s relatives, who he thought were getting the girlfriend to turn against him, prosecutors said. Sheriff’s investigators set up a sting and Galvez, a gang member, gave an undercover officer the names of the relatives, promising to get drugs and money as payment when the three were killed.